Kidambi Srikanth delivered a disappointing performance as India succumbed 1-3 to Malaysia, eventually claiming the silver in the mixed team badminton event at the Commonwealth Games here on Tuesday. Srikanth lost in three matches to the lower-ranked Tze Yong Ng, pushing the defending champion into the background in the final. PV Sindhu did what was expected of her in the women’s singles, while the men’s doubles of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in the opening doubles. With the win, Malaysia regained the title they had lost in India’s Gold Coast four years ago.
For India to retain gold, much depended on the outcome of the men’s doubles with Rankireddy and Shetty, and the Olympic bronze medalist duo of Teng Fong Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh.
The women’s doubles and mixed doubles were India’s weaker links and the team relied on the men’s doubles and the two singles to get the job done.
The opening match was packed with long and winding rallies, but Reddy and Shetty lost most of them and couldn’t keep up with the ultra-attacking Malaysian pair.
For a change, the Malaysian crowd made more noise than the Indians, giving Chia and Soh an extra boost. After a tough battle, the Malaysians won 21-18, 21-15 to give their team a 1-0 lead. very heavy for the number 7 in the world.
Sindhu led 11-6 in the first game, but Goh looked like a different player after the break. She let the former world champion run around with her dexterous net play. Goh made a strong comeback to hold the game to the end.
Sindhu ended a rally with a forehand smash to Goh’s left to make it 21-20 before the Malaysian scored a return. Goh’s continued with similar tactics in the second game as well, trying to get Sindhu close to the net. Sindhu, however, was up for the task as she took an 11-7 lead in the second game.
Goh closed the gap after the break, but Sindhu was able to finish the game comfortably this time. It was a grueling affair and Goh gave her everything on the track, including the last point when she fell to the ground. The final score was 22-20 and 21-17 World Number 14 Srikanth came in with a flat performance in men’s singles. an upset, The Indian then walked away with the second game to tie the game. In the decider, Tze led 11-9 at halftime after a few unforced errors by the Indian. It was 16-12 and Srikanth couldn’t match Tze’s net play.
The Malaysian got his first match point after a lengthy rally in which Srikanth misjudged a line call at the baseline.
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Srikanth sent a smash wide into the next run to give Malaysia a 2-1 lead. It was also Tze’s first win over the former world No. 1 with the final result being 21-19, 6-21, 21-16.
The world’s number 11 duo, Thinaah Muralitharan and Koong Le Pearly Tan, were too good for lower-seed Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly in women’s doubles, winning 21-18, 21-17 to complete the task.
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